Safety tile section



F. W. COTTERMAN 2,201,849

SAFETY TILE SECTION Filed March 17, 1939 Patented May 21, 1940 SAFETY TILE SECTION FreclerickW. Cotterman, Dayton, Ohio, assignor of one-half to Bessie D. Apple, Dayton,'0hio Application March 17, 1939, "Serial No. 262,540-

. 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a tile' section which is particularly effective in catching leaves, birds nests, and the like, which are washed out of roof gutters, down the spouting and into the underground tiling into which the spouting empties. In many sections of the country the rain water from roofsis collected and conveyed to cisterns for household use. This'practice is sometimes due to the difficulty of getting a water supply otherwise, and sometimes due to the fact that in some geographical locations the water pumped from wells is'so highly charged with lime as to render it unfit for most household uses.

In othercases'the water collected from roofs is merely conveyed thru jointed tiling to a stream or other place of disposal. In the first case it is more importantfor sanitary reasons to strain insects, leaves, birds'nestsand other foreign matter from the water, but in either event it is important'for the reason that frequent stoppages occur inthe tiling which necessitates frequent digging up of the lawn or shrubbery beds with its consequent mess'and annoyance.

' To overcome the'foregoing trouble, screens have been used in' the top ends of the down spouts where theyjoin the gutters, and these work satisfactorily if they are frequently given attention. The 'leaves,- however, soon pack around the screen and clog it, making it necessary to take a ladder and'climb to the place of stoppage and remove the obstruction, which is at its best an undesirable performance.

In other cases, strainersfor filters are incorporated in and near the lower ends of downspouts; and'these' have found some favor, but they have the fault that, beingabove the ground line, they are not only unsightly, but may under certain conditions, freeze up and defeat their purpose. Furthermore, being of metal and exposed, such devices rust and deteriorate rapidly. Since it is quite common practice to use, for the first section of, the tiling, an elbow tile, into the bell end-of which the bottom end of the downspout is cemented, it is an object of this invention to so construct and arrange a first section of tiling, which may be a section of vitreous or cast iron tiling, that the major porltion thereof will be below the ground level where ,strainer which may be readily removed, emptied and replaced;

Where rain :water is collected from roofs and conducted to cisterns thru tiling, it ishighly important that the lid thru which the strainer is to be removed for emptying, the joint between the lower end of the downspout and the tile section, and the joints between succeeding sections, be substantially perfect, in order that ground worms, insects and dirt be excluded from the cistern, and it therefore becomes another object of this invention to so construct the device that such perfect joints may be readily made at the several places indicated.

Where, however, the'join'ts are made as above stated, and the cistern has no overflow tile, it has happened that when za cistern was already completely filled there came an unusual and excessive downpour of rain, from which water built up in the downspouts high enough-to overflow the roof gutters, in which case there was sufficient head in the cistern to crack the walls thereof, and it therefore is another object of this invention to provide'a relief means for such excessive pressure without the addition of mechanism which might get out of order and without having any opening thru which insects might enter. I I

Furthermeritoriousfeatures and advantages will become apparent from the following description when read with reference to the. drawing,

wherein, v

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross section thru the device, v i

Fig. 2 a top plan view. 1 v

Figs. 3 and 4 show vertical cross sections thru modifications. I

Similar numerals refer .to similar parts thruout the several views.

Imbedded in the earth I, Fig. 1, is a section .of tiling in which my invention is embodied.

extends, having a cemented joint 20. I

Preferably about 'at the ground line 22 the body of the section is enlarged to a diameter 24 thereby providing a shoulder 26 upon which 'rests a sheet metal ring 28 having an outer diameter which will enter the inside 30 of the part 24 freely and an inner diameter which will receive a cylinder 32 of screening which is open at the top and maybe secured to the ring at the upper edge by soldering or other suitable means. A heavy wire handle 34 has its ends extended thru holes in the ring 28 and is soldered .or otherwise fastened therein. A bottom 36 may be made of the same screening as the cylinder 32. The basket comprising the parts 28, 32, 34 and 36 should be entirely of non-corrosive material, copper being suitable. The assembled basket may be referred to by the numeral 38.

A removable lid 40 rests on the upper edge of the cylinder 24. The joint 42 between the lid and cylinder should be ground or otherwise finished to exclude ants and other small insects. A flange 44 on the bottom of the lid extends downwardly into the cylinder and should flt with suflicient freedom to permit easy removal of the lid. A knob 46 is provided for removing and replacing the lid.

Intermediate the shoulder 26 and the bottom of the rim 44 an inlet opening 48 extends first laterally then upwardly within the inlet elbow 50 which is integral with the cylinder 24. The elbow 50 is enlarged at the upper end to form the bell 52 into which the downspout 56 extends to a shoulder 56. A joint of cement 58 secures the downspout in the bell 52.

Extending thru the rim M are a series of notches 60. These notches extend from the bottom of the rim upwardly almost to the top edge 42. If and when pressure builds up from below suflicient to raise the lid, the upper edges of the notches 60 will rise above the line 42 to provide an outlet which remains open only as long as there is an overflow.

The embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2 will be preferred where the fall in the tiling is limited. Where it is not so limited the cylindrical portion 12 instead of having a lateral outlet portion IQ for connection to a straight tile section [6 laid horizontally may instead be merely reduced in diameter at the lower end as at 62 Fig. 3 and cemented as at 64 in the bell B6 of a short turn elbow 68. The succeeding lateral sections will necessarily be from six to ten inches deeper below the top of the ground level than with the structure Fig. 1, but where there is plenty of fall this may not be an objection.

Fig. 4 shows an application of the form of section shown in Fig. 3, but where the lateral tiling is deeper in the earth. In such a case several standard tile sections I6 may be added vertically, then by means of a standard elbow turned in a lateral direction.

In operation, any leaves, birds nests, spiders, etc., washed by a rain from the roof gutter into the downspout 54 will be carried thru the elbow 50 into the basket 38, the water passing thru freely to the cistern or other outlet. Once or twice a year, the lid 40 should be lifted, the basket raised by the handle 34, emptied and replaced.

If emptying of the basket is neglected until it becomes packed solidly and quite to the top, a heavy rain may have to lift the lid Ml and bring the overflow notches 60 into action. The washing away of ground in the immediate vicinity will give an indication of the stoppage.

The overflow notches will function in the same manner if a heavy rain falls after a cistern having no overflow tile is quite full. If the device were without any pressure relief means, and assuming a cistern 10 feet deep with a distance from the top of the cistern to the roof gutter of 20 feet, this head of 30 feet would cause a pressure against the cistern wall near its bottom of nearly a ton lateral per square foot of wall. Under these circumstances cistern walls have been known to break under the strain, particularly where the earth was shrunk away from the outside leaving the walls unsupported.

It will be obvious that the use of the device is justified to provide cleaner water in cisterns for household use, to obviate digging up of lawns to remove leaf obstructions, to retard freezing of wet leaves in the strainer basket, and to prevent undue pressure on cistern walls from excessive head in the downspouting when the cistern is full.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. A device of the character described, comprising a section of tiling adapted to be imbedded for the greater portion of its length in the earth and having a vertical hollow cylindrical body with open upper end and a laterally extending hollow cylindrical outlet at its lower end, said cylindrical body having a hollow interior which enlarges abruptly in size near its upper end approximately at the ground line thereby providing a shoulder in its interior diameter, a cylindrical screen basket of smaller diameter than the inside of the lower portion of the cylindrical body having a sheet metal ring around its open top resting on said shoulder and a handle, a lid resting on the said open upper end of the cylindrical body and having a rim extending downwardly to fit freely therein, said rim being provided with a series of notches extending from the lower edge nearly to the upper edge, and an inlet elbow integral with said cylindrical body and extending laterally then upwardly therefrom, the upper end being enlarged to receive a downspout, the lateral opening of said elbow entering said cylindrical body between the top of said shoulder and the lower edge of said rim.

2. In a device of the character described. a tile section comprising a vertical hollow middle portion with an outlet elbow of smaller diameter than said middle portion extending laterally from the lower end and an upper portion with open top and of larger bore than the middle portion extending vertically from the upper end thereby forming a shoulder in the inner diameter of the tile section intermediate its ends, a screen basket of smaller diameter than the inside of the middle portion having a flange at its open top resting on said shoulder, a lid resting on the upper open end of the upper portion and having a rim slidable freely into the inside of said upper portion and provided with notches extending therethru, and an inlet elbow integral with said upper portion having an opening thereinto between the said shoulder and said rim, said elbow having a hollow interior which enlarges abruptly in size near the upper end to receive a downspout, and form a'shoulder therefor.

3. A safety tile section comprising, a vertical hollow body open at the top and with an outlet at its lower end and a bore which enlarges abruptly near its upper end thereby forming a shoulder on the inside diameter intermediate the ends of the section, a perforate basket of smaller dibody of rust proof material open at the top and bottom and adapted to be partly imbedded in the earth, the bottom end being adapted for connection with other tile sections, a lid covering the open top and held down thereon solely by its own weight, whereby said lid may be raised freely by pressure from below, said hollow body having a basket support formed on the inside intermediate the top and bottom, a rust proof basket having perforated side walls spaced considerably away from the inside of the said hollow body and a flange around the open top of the basket extending outwardly and resting on said basket support, said flange being of a size which may be freely withdrawn thru said open top of said hollow body, and so formed as to hold the basket sides spaced away from the walls of the body, and an inlet neck integral with the hollow body, the inlet opening in said neck entering the hollow body above said basket flange and below said lid.

FREDERICK W. CO'ITERMAN. 

